Fame for the Refugees

I do believe that refugees need fame to allow their voices to be heard and their problems to be addressed. From reading all of these chapters, I found that these people are becoming invisible to the public eye. It seems to me that they are being stripped of their identity and all they shows that they are an individual fighting for their life to get their home back. Refugees need to have their voice to be heard so that more people around the world can understand the torment and suffrage these people have been through what could possibility be the majority of their lives.

Pop culture and celebrities are a major aspect of a good majority of peoples’ lives in the United States. Honestly, some people are obsessed fans who know every miniscule detail about certain celebrities which is a bit creepy, yet these people have been so engrossed with their love for a famous person that I don’t see why people can’t do the same for those who are living terrible hardships in refugee camps, surviving on a little to no food yet still have a positive outlook on life. Inside these camps are people who want to make a difference, to make a change. They haven’t given up the hope that one-day they will be able to go back to their homes and live out their lives in full freedom from entrapment. Fame will empower these victims of genocide and hatred. Fame will help provide us with a source of knowledge of their stories and tales that would travel around the world flowing through city-to-city, person-to-person.

I feel if refugees did receive the fame that they need, more life would shine throughout the camps. They would not be just one more number in the blocks, one more ration of food. They would begin to become the person that they strive to be. Refugees have amazing testimonies about their lives pre-refugee as well as their lives within the camps. From reading the testimonies given, I know that these people want their voice to be heard. They want the fighting to be finished; they want the hate to cease to exist. I feel that it is a necessity for these refugees to become known to the world because if we don’t know them, how would we care? The United States especially loves hot topics and controversial subjects and empowering these victims of persecution could turn the whole idea of refugees around.

Some refugee agencies may see this fame that refugees desperately need as a constraint to the power that they hold over the program.  It seems that they attempt to desensitize and strip the people of their identities to allow them not to worry about the outside world, to not care about making a difference. Overall, agencies need to tear down their walls a bit to allow these people to become prominent in the media allowing their voices to be heard.

I feel that as the years go by, people are becoming more and more informed about refugees and their issues. I honestly do not see any wrong reason why a refugee should be famous. They might not live in the spotlight like celebrities in Hollywood and New York City, but these people are strong willed and do not give up. They deserve to be able to allow their stories to be told, their lives to be witness, because I feel that the hardships of living in these refugee camps is something that most people don’t think twice about.

– Joshua

The Struggles of South Sudan

South Sudan is the world’s newest country, gaining its independence from Sudan in 2011, yet there has been telltale signs within the country that a genocide is in the midst. The internal conflict between the two majority groups, the Dinka and the Nuer has created friction resulting in wanting to destroy one another (Lustig, 2014). And to make matters worse, a heavy famine has struck in South Sudan, leaving hundreds of thousand of adults and children without food and water resulting in many deaths (Lustig, 2014; Wire Services, 2014c). I feel that all of this tension and brutality and the role of scarcity inside the South Sudan have really opened up the country to a destructive genocide. As humans, I feel it is our right to attempt to put an end to this genocide by reinforcing the notions that the Genocide Convention put into place. I know that countries such as the United Kingdom, and the United States might not want to call it genocide, but innocent people are being brutally murdered and starved and they need our help!

The South Sudan genocide is seen to have had several visible indicators that could have potentially sparked the event (Maya, 2014).  As I wrote in the previous paragraph, there was already tension between the governance and the people. President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, butted heads with the former vice president now turned rebel leader Riek Machar, a Nuer (Lustig, 2014). The two groups had been fighting since December and with the entire world fearful of the outbreak of genocide, the US and UN created a cease-fire agreement to welcome peace between the two (Wire Services, 2014a). Alas both ethnic majority leaders destroyed the agreement not even two days after they had agreed with both accusing each other (Wire Services, 2014b). Although both sides have seen deaths, most news articles have shown the genocide to be favored towards the Dinkas attempt to destroy the Nuer (CHUOL Puoch, 2014; Puoch Riek Deng, 2014). Kiir and his Dinka militia are seen as cruel, fueled with power and anger resulting in their plans of an “ethnic cleanse”: destroying all other groups in South Sudan (Puoch Riek Deng, 2014).

The Dinkas have used news alerts on radio stations to help influence other Sudanese citizens to go along with the slaughter (Lustig, 2014). No one was safe in Juba, the capital and largest city of South Sudan. Hundreds of Nuer are seen to being tortured and kidnapped with many of the women being raped and killed (Lustig, 2014). People began fleeing to other countries to refugee camps trying to become safe from a life that has already been filled with exile and discrimination (Maya, 2014).

With the fighting that has happened, the South Sudanese people are experiencing a deadly famine with a side of disease. Being unable to find proper medication as well as nourishment due to being driven out of their homes, over seven million South Sudanese are at risk of diseases such as cholera and malaria, and starvation (Wire Services, 2014c). The heavy rains and war has disenabled these people to obtain the health care that they need to survive. I feel that the scarcities found in South Sudan have been able to predict the signs of the makings of genocide. The power struggle between the two majorities affected the entire country, plunging it into a civil war and generating the starvation of their country (Wire Services, 2014c). These people could all perish if they do not get the proper health care, sanitation, food, and water in the next few weeks! Countries need to check themselves and understand the damages they are doing to their people by destroying themselves through war and genocide.

I feel that South Sudan has been plagued with relatively bad luck ever since their introduction as a country. With two hostile ethnic groups fighting over a power struggle, there was no way this situation would end up nicely and peacefully. As things in South Sudan have begun to show more signs of genocide ever since the breaking of cease-fire agreement, I feel that other countries need to continue to relay information and begin to aggressively push for the fighting in the nation to stop in an attempt to save the South Sudanese from starvation and disease. The world does not and should not take the use of genocide lightly so I feel that having more people become aware of what is happening in South Sudan can hopefully help put a stop to the destruction and save a country from certain annihilation.

-Joshua

References below:

The Happenings and Scarcities of Genocide

Genocide does not just happen on a whim. There are several motivators and methods that influence a group of people to put into their minds thoughts of persecution and discrimination that flourishes into genocide. With the use of motivation, the perpetrators believe that the persecuted group has something that they want, which helps them develop a plan into getting what they want by attempting to destroy those that have it. I feel that in some cases, the perpetrators’ view of the situation and motivation can influence the bystanders of their country that aren’t affected by either group, which helps form a stronger bond between the perpetrators and their citizens in the majority. In the reading, I found that leadership was a critical area that affected how a genocide would happen. For example, Hitler was a great speaker and commander with good charisma, which helped him control Germany with an authoritative rule, which then resulted in the mass extermination of the Jews. He was a horrible man, but had great leadership skills. Being able to influence the vast majority of a country as well as having the motivation to getting what they want (with Hitler’s case: exterminating all the Jews, homosexuals, handicapped, etc. to create an Aryan race) is an effective way of how genocide unfolds into a country.

I feel the issue of scarcity is an important topic in terms of genocide in the third world. I feel that the perpetrators of the genocide don’t always look at the big picture and do not understand how much they can be affected by the scarcities that will be found following the genocide. Scarcities include political and economical problems that result in social chaos in the affected country. I feel that these problems really are the tipping point to destruction and poverty of these countries within genocide. Scarcity is a big deal that I feel is hard to control and get rid of. With degradation and the destruction of natural resources during the genocide, these countries are unable to produce products resulting in economic drops and loss of profits. Scarcities play the role of leading lady in the genocidal opera.

When I think of the violence and poverty held in third world countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia, I think of what I see in media, like the commercials where you can save a child or give them fresh water for a week. They give off a very one-dimensional aspect to the many dimensional life these people are actually going through. This reading went against the idea that these countries are struggling with more than just material issues. The role of scarcity goes further into the process of dismantling political groups resulting in attempting to maintain the power over the country. This, in return continues to keep the division of the majority and minority farther away from one another. Overall, I feel that my understanding of the role of scarcity has changed in response to genocide.

 -Joshua 

Privilege and Faces

Mcintosh’s Knapsack article was an interesting read for me. Like the article states, we are taught not to recognize white privilege even though we come to the realization that we do have a privilege. Reading the 26 conditions she listed really opened my eyes to how much of a unearned privilege we have as we do not worry about what some people say for we are confident in our skin, ethnicity, etc. I feel that everyone should have an equal chance regardless of his or her race or gender. White privilege has been so enamored into our society that we forget to think about how we may been seen to those around us.

As a white heterosexual male, I understood that I did have an unearned privilege, which I am honestly very grateful for. It doesn’t however make how I pursue my life goals any different. I feel that my privilege does affect my view on genocide and the refugee issues associate with it. I am thankful that I live in a country where I am safe from the hatred and corruptness that is found in third world country that experience genocide.  I feel that my privilege helps disassociate myself with those countries because I have not experienced anything as bad as what they have experience so I find that it could be hard to relate to underprivileged people. This doesn’t mean though that I do not want to help them. We are both humans and we both have the right to live in a place of safety.

After reading the Faces of Whiteness article, I tried to choose which face I felt I most associated with towards genocide and refugee issues. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be as I could agree with most of the five categories. I feel at this current moment though, that I relate most to the Intellectualizer face. I have always been the guy that has to know everything about a tv show, game, etc. once I become invested in it. Studying genocide has always been a foreign topic to me until I began to research more about it, which I now find it to be interesting in its own way. I am still baffled on some of the cruel hatred that I have read about. Also learning about refugee issues, I found out information that I had not known before.

I feel that the Intellectualizer face suits me for I find genocide and refugee issues to be an interesting topic, yet I know how dangerous and harmful going into a situation like that could entail. I want to keep my distance from the field, being very thankful that I am not being persecuted or killed. This face may imply that I am all bark and no bite, not wanting to actually put a stop to those oppressed by a major group. I feel that pursuing to know all of this information may misinterpret my own thoughts and feelings of the subject of genocide and refugee issues.

Honestly, I want to be able say that I would take the Missionary face and be able to assert myself into people’s lives by helping them with their desires, but I am not sure if I am ready for that.  I feel a mixture of the Missionary and the Intellectualizer face would be an effective mask of how people could associate themselves with these topics. The whole article really opened my eyes to how privileged my thoughts could be and the implications that contribute to the face I put on concerning genocide and refugee issues.  

-Joshua